NewsWatch
  Keeping a critical eye on Uber, 
Lyft, Sidecar, et al

Welcome to the latest edition of AFT NewsWatch, a weekly service of Advocates for Fairness in Transportation, an ad hoc group of regulated transportation service companies dedicated to informing and educating the public on threats to public safety from new so-called ride-sharing or ride-booking services such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar. Visit the Archive to read previous editions.

The lawsuit that could change Uber forever has a trial date
A California judge set a trial date for the class action lawsuit challenging the way Uber classifies its drivers as independent contractors. Judge Edward M. Chen ruled that the trial will start June 20th, 2016, and will last five weeks. The case, O'Connor v. Uber, gained some steam in March 2015 when Chen denied Uber's motion for summary motion and in September when he certified the case as a class action. 
Meet the Boston lawyer who's putting Uber on trial
With a raft of lawsuits challenging Uber Technologies Inc. and other startups that summon workers at the touch of an app, attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan has become one of the most influential-and controversial-figures in Silicon Valley. In her main suit against Uber, Ms. Liss-Riordan represents drivers who say the ride-service company has illegally classified them as freelancers and not employees, barring them from reimbursements for their expenses, among other protections. 
Halloween Uber ride costs woman $500
A Rio Rancho woman's Halloween night out ended with a nightmare when she got her Uber bill. Suzi Siglock's 45-minute ride home from downtown Albuquerque cost $500.17. Saturday was her first time using the popular ride-sharing service. "I'd heard it was a very economical way of getting to and from places. A very safe way of getting back and forth," Siglock said. 
Ex-Uber driver faces 9 new counts of rape, kidnapping
A former Uber driver - who has already pleaded guilty to raping a woman in 2014 - shouted out one "not guilty" after another to nine new counts of rape and kidnapping as his lawyer vowed to go to war against the labs that have allegedly linked his client's DNA to the crimes. Alejandro Done, 47, of Boston was arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on charges in connection with four attacks that took place between 2006 and 2010. 
British Uber driver gets 8 months in jail for sexually assaulting woman in his cab
A perverted Uber driver has been jailed for eight months for sexually assaulting a woman in his cab in London. Samson Haile, 32, told his 26-year-old passenger that he wanted to have sex with her, before touching her inappropriately. The woman managed to flee the creep's cab on Cromwell Road and alert police, according to Mirror Online. Later in the same evening he picked up a female off-duty police officer and also tried to talk her into sex. When she filed a report the next day, cops linked it to the previous evening's sexual assault.
Uber driver arrested on felony wiretapping charge
An unregistered Uber driver was arrested on a warrant for a felony count of wiretapping that alleges he audio recorded a downtown bar bouncer without that person's knowledge or permission. A member of the Free State movement, Christopher David, 29, said the wiretapping charge stems from a video he recorded and posted on YouTube while driving for Uber last month. In the video, the bouncer can be heard warning David that Uber is illegal in Portsmouth and telling him that fines for violating the city's new transportation ordinance are $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for subsequent violations. 
Uber is trying to lure new drivers with bank accounts
As part of an effort to entice and retain its drivers, Uber is planning to offer them banking services. According to a report by Quartz, the ride-share start-up's new plan would allow drivers to register for a bank account or prepaid card at the start of their employment with Uber. This would allow drivers to get paid the same day they work as opposed to the current weekly policy.
Uber driver 'threatened' by senior manager after establishing union
A senior manager of the taxi app Uber has threatened a British driver for establishing a union to fight for better treatment, a leaked email appears to show. Uber drivers have been raising concerns over working conditions, including pay being cut and having to spend up to 30 minutes getting to passengers.  
How Uber drivers could trip up CEO Travis Kalanick
The behemoth ride-sharing service Uber has jolted city after city like a mighty earthquake. It has gained a momentum that seems almost unstoppable. Some say it portends the future of the U.S. economy. At the least, taxi companies and their antiquated medallion system are being crushed. And yet Uber may not be as invincible as it seems. As CEO Travis Kalanick fully knows, Uber's success or failure will hinge on one major "input" into its business: its drivers.
Uber drivers consider legal action
More than 100 drivers for app-based taxi company Uber are looking to take action over their rights, lawyers have told the Victoria Derbyshire program. The legal action is aiming to establish the drivers with worker status, rather than as self-employed customers or partners - which is how Uber sees them. The first four cases are the company is breaching its duty on basic rights. 
Is Uber driving the new waitressing?
One of the latest ways to pay the bills in a town where actors and artists abound isn't waiting on tables - it's driving a rideshare car. Uber and Lyft and other on-demand services are changing the economy, researchers say, and those in creative industries have turned to driving to supplement their income when once they might have spent their free hours waiting tables.  
Airbnb and Uber mobilize vast user base to sway policy 
Over the last few years, so-called sharing companies like Airbnb and Uber - online platforms that allow strangers to pay one another for a room or a ride - have established footholds in thousands of communities well before local regulators have figured out how to deal with them. Now, as cities grapple with the growth of these services and try to pass rules for how they should operate, the companies are fighting back by turning their users into a vast political operation that can be mobilized at any sign of a threat.
UA police warn of Uber, Lyft driver impersonators
The University of Arizona Police Department has released some safety tips after receiving three reports of people impersonating Uber or Lyft drivers in Tucson. "These situations could be dangerous and UAPD would like to remind you to utilize good safety practices at all times," a news release stated. A wide variety of students said they rely on Uber and Lyft for transportation, especially during nights out on the weekends. Read more from Tucson News Now
Is the Uber bubble about to pop?
The New York Times performed a public service with the first two installments of a three-part series on the shady clauses in consumer and employment contracts that enable corporations to divert legal disputes into secret, extra-judicial arbitration panels. The corporation pays the arbitrators hearing the case, and the rulings, from what we can tell about this opaque process, favor the corporation, if only because an arbitrator siding with the people who do the hiring ensures them more work in the future.
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